TEACHERS OF THE DECCAN
1. DNYANDEV
ALTHOUGH Mukundraj was earlier than Dnyandev,
still as none of Mukundraj's verses have survived
in the form in which he wrote them, it may fairly be
said that Dnyandev was the earliest Marathi poet
whose work is extant. He was certainly the first
of the Pandharpur school of poets.
The tale how Pandharpur came to be regarded as
holy is a strange one. It is now a town on the lower
reaches of the Bhima River, but in early times it was
a thick forest called Dandirvan. In the forest lived
two old people, Janudev and his wife Satyavati.
They had an undutiful son known as Pundalik; and
Pundalik and his wife so illtreated his parents, that
they resolved to go on a pilgrimage. When their
daughter-in-law heard of it, she insisted on going
also. She and Pundalik rode with the other
pilgrims, while Janudev and Satyavati walked. In
the evening the poor old couple, dead tired although
they were, had to groom Pundalik's and his wife's
horses. They soon regretted their decision to go
on a pilgrimage. Their release was near at hand.
One evening the body of pilgrims stopped for the
night at the hermitage of a sage called Kukut-
swaml All fell asleep except Pundalik. As he lay
awake, he saw several ill clad but lovely women
enter Kukutswami's hermitage, clean the floor,
fetch water and wash his clothes. They then went